Operating Room Educational Television &#34;OReduTV&#34;

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for viewing information includes a wireless interactive monitor including a screen for displaying the information and adapted to receive the information wirelessly and a surgeon scrub sink for allowing a surgeon to sterilize the hands of the surgeon, positioned under the wireless interactive monitor.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is a continuation in part of a parent applicationhaving a Ser. No. 11/551,262 and filed on Oct. 23, 2006.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention is directed generally to an Internet basedwireless or wired communication device, and more particularly, to asystem and method for maintaining a video image for interactivecommunication at areas in the surgical suite of a hospital or clinic totransmit educational instruction of pertinent and timely information forthe medical profession. In one embodiment, the device would be in thesurgical suite located above the surgical scrub sinks.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Due to recent federal legislation as well as new educationalinstitutional policies, pharmaceutical and medical device companies arebanned from providing any significant financial assistance or incentiveto the doctors or the medical staff in order to promote their productsor services. Traditional marketing methods included the use of companyemployees to entertain, gift, or otherwise incentive medical personnelto listen to or to see presentations concerning the respective company'sproducts or services. In response to the loss of this traditionalmethod, the medical companies have taken to marketing their productsdirectly to the public via commercial media, i.e. television, magazines,newspapers. The thrust of such marketing is to motivate the potentialpatient to ask their doctor about the product. Often, this is the firstnotification of such a product. It is no longer the direct relationshipwith the supplier for information, but it is the patient who is now theagent of information. This method often is confusing to the patient whomay lack medical understanding and novel to the physician or staff whowas not prepared educationally to respond to the patient's inquiry. Theproblem now is how to get this timely educational information to themedical profession. Continuing medical education is provided by thehospitals, universities, and medical societies, but these are monthly orless frequent.

This problem is further complicated by the doctor's and staff'savailable time being limited. Daily patient care activities minimize oreliminate daily education opportunity. There is little time available ona daily basis to learn about the new products or services of thepharmaceutical or medical device companies for the above reasons.

Furthermore, immediately prior to or during an actual operation ortreatment, there may be a need to review these new products or servicesin order to treat the patient or to obtain the latest information aboutthe actual operation or treatment.

Prior to an operation, surgeons and staff spend a significant amount oftotal time washing his/her hands and forearms, even multiple times eachday. The period of time “scrubbing” is typically three to ten minutes ata surgical scrub sink. It is a time of isolation from any and all otheractivities. Therefore, this is an opportune time for short segments ofvideo and or sound bites concerning relevant medical educationalmaterial. Surgical sinks are used in order to permit a surgeon to washhis/her hands prior to entering the surgical suite and subsequentplacement of the sterile surgical gloves for surgery. Furthermore, thesurgical sinks are located in or near the operating room andconsequently may be difficult to hard wire. It is essential, in order tomaintain the sterile conditions, that the surgeon's hands not touch anyobject which might be unsterile. Voice or physical mode for activationis possible for selection from the menu on the television monitor forthe program of their choosing; by their specialty or their academicinterest.

Technology continues to enter the operating room. Presently, surgery canbe aided with 3-D vision. This was a technology that was originallydeveloped by the military to help fighter pilots immerse themselves inair combat. The same technology is helping surgeons. Surgeons set a pairof sophisticated goggles over their head to view the surgery with theaid of cameras inserted into incisions into the patient as theirsurgical tools are inserted below the skin. The surgeons can obtain areal-time view of the effect of their surgery. However, this does notaddress the need of the surgeon for instantaneous training and guidancefor unexpected problems.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,369,799 discloses a method and apparatus for controllinga computer screen adapted for use by individuals with limited or nomanual dexterity.

Because of the closeness of the scrub sink to the OR room, there may bea need to avoid excess noise from or in consideration of other doctorsand staff members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of this invention is to provide an automatically or manuallyoperated monitor and surgical scrub sink which overcomes the abovedisadvantages.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a surgical scrubsink and wireless interactive monitor which can be wirelessly or wireconnected to an information source which includes pharmaceutical orother types of information which would be useful for the surgeon.Consequently, while the surgeon is cleaning his hands, he can activatethe wireless interactive monitor in order to obtain additionalinformation such as pharmaceutical information. This may be accomplishedby infra red transmission methods.

Wireless communications devices, such as the monitor and the cell phone,typically include a housing and various data input and output devices,such as a keyboard, a display, a microphone and a speaker. In addition,some wireless communications devices have video conferencingcapabilities. The same system may be used for in-service educationaltraining of the support staff on new procedures, medications orinstrumentation.

In accordance with this invention, a wireless interactive monitor ispositioned over the sink. An electronically operated on/off mechanismcontrols the wireless interactive monitor positioned near orapproximately under the surgeon scrub sink. The wireless interactivemonitor may be voice activated and controlled so that the surgeon doesnot need to physically touch the monitor. The interactive monitor mayinclude a computer in order to perform the voice activation of theinteractive monitor and to perform the voice control of the interactivemonitor. A sensor may be mounted under or alongside the tub fordirecting a beam in front of the tub at the height of the user's legs soas to detect the presence and absence of a user in the immediatevicinity of the tub. The sensor is operationally connected to the on/offmechanism so as to comprise a control for turning on the monitor whenthe presence of the user is detected and turning off the monitor whenthe absence of a user is detected. The sensor provides an alternative tovoice activation. The activation may be by foot pedal.

The sensor may be operative over a focal distance of approximately a fewinches so as to avoid false starts by detecting objects other than thesurgeon standing in the immediate vicinity of the tub. A furtherpreferred practice of the invention provides mounting the sensor on asupport arm which extends below and generally to the front edge of thetub so as to assure properly locating the short focus sensor at itsdesired location. The support arm may be suspended from the tub bymounting the support arm to the tub drain pipe. The support arm may beused for mounting the mixing valve for the faucet.

Implementation may involve leasing or purchasing the air space in andabout the hospital and/or the operating room suite, specifically thoseareas of transmission; i.e. above and in front of the scrub sink, in theoperating room, the instrument ready rooms, physicians and nurses'lounges. The present invention may be used in convention in hotel rooms.It can also be used in cars, planes, buses, trains etc. Bill Gates hasindicated that advertising and TV as we know it today will be passé verysoon. This invention furthers that notion.

An apparatus for viewing information includes a wireless interactivemonitor including a screen for displaying the information and adapted toreceive the said information from a memory and a surgeon scrub sink forallowing a surgeon and/or hospital personnel to sterilize the hands ofthe surgeon, positioned under the wireless interactive monitor. Thememory receives the information wirelessly.

Additionally, the present invention includes an apparatus for viewinginformation including a wireless interactive monitor including a screenfor displaying the information and adapted to receive the informationwirelessly and a surgeon 3-D vision apparatus for allowing a surgeon toview a 3-D image. The 3-D vision apparatus is coupled to the wirelessinteractive monitor.

The wireless cellular phone of the present invention receives a videoimage provided by a video-output device of a wireless communicationsdevice, and as a result enables a surgeon of the wireless communicationsdevice to receive information in the form of video and audio through thedisplay and the speaker and to provide feedback by the buttons to thevideo-output device in order to instruct the video-output device whichinformation that the surgeon would like to see and hear.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The invention may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer diagram of the video output device of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates the video output device and the wireless interactivemonitor of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the wireless interactive monitor andsurgeon sink of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a side view of the wireless interactive monitor andthe surgeon sink of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a computer diagram associated with the monitor of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of a 3-D system with the monitor of thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a cell phone being used in accordance with theteachings of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention involves improvements over surgical scrub sinksutilizing automatic control apparatus for turning the wirelessinteractive monitor on and off. Although the present invention isdescribed in terms of a wireless device, the principles of the presentinvention can be equally applied to a wired system including a wiredinteractive monitor.

The concepts of the invention may be practiced with various types ofknown surgical scrub sinks wherein the invention is incorporated thereinby providing a sensor mounted at a location which would generallycorrespond to the legs, and more particularly the knee area, at theimmediate vicinity of the sink tub. Preferably, the sensor is of shortfocus with a focal distance of about 2-6 inches, so as to avoid falsesignals which would otherwise be caused by detecting objects other thanthe user of the sink. The invention is based upon the recognition thatwhen the user of the sink, such as a surgeon, is performing a handscrubbing operation, he or she will stand immediately juxtaposed to thesink tub during the scrubbing or hand washing operation and will remainin that position until the scrubbing operation is completed, althoughduring the scrubbing operation there might be periods of time when thehands are not in the immediate vicinity of the faucet. During thisperiod of time, the surgeon is free to view the material presented onthe interactive wireless monitor. Thus, the present invention could relyupon detection of the hands near the faucet as well as the detection ofthe legs near the tub. The monitor 102 which may shut itself off after apredetermined amount of time or could be shut off by voice-activatedcommand. Although the present invention is described in terms of theinteractive monitor 102 positioned above a scrub sink 10, otherlocations within the surgical suite are within the scope of the presentinvention. For example, the interactive monitor 102 could be positionedto the left of or to the right of the scrub sink 10. Furthermore, thepresent invention describes the user of the interactive monitor 102 anda scrub sink 10 as a surgeon, but other users such as nurses andassistants could take advantage of the interactive monitor 102. Thescrub sink 10 could be found in the preparation area and could be usedto clean surgical instruments between cases. Individuals who are notfamiliar with the various instruments, their care, use, safety, andsterilization issues could use the interactive monitor 102 for tutorialswhich is sometimes called in-service education. The interactive monitor102 could be positioned in a doctors or nurses lounge and might be usedwith earphones 404, which may be wireless or wired, that allows eachperson to hear their individualized program without disturbing others inthe room or area.

As illustrated herein and in FIGS. 3-4, a surgical scrub sink 10 isshown which includes a tub 12 of any suitable known description andwireless interactive monitor 102. The tub 12 would include a drain hole14 at its lower portion and would include a front edge 16. A faucet 18is mounted at the top of tub 12. The faucet 18 terminates in a nozzle 20which is disposed over and toward the open body of tub 12.

The wireless interactive monitor 102 is electronically operated by anon/off mechanism 22 as described above, or the wireless interactivemonitor 102 could be voice-activated by user 402. The user 402 may use awired or wireless ear piece 404 which could be attached to the user 402before the user 402 washes his hands and could be removed by anattendant to maintain the sterile condition of the hands. Such on/offmechanism 22 may include, for example, a solenoid controlled electronicswitch in order to turn on and off the electric power for the wirelessinteractive monitor 102 in housing 28. A sensor module cable 30 is alsoprovided in housing 28.

The housing or enclosure 28 for the on/off mechanism 22 is mounted to asupport arm 34. A sensor 36 is mounted to the remote or free end ofsupport arm 34 as best shown in FIGS. 3-4.

Support arm 34 includes a main bracket 38 which is fixedly mounted toany suitable support. For example, as best illustrated in FIG. 3, themain bracket 38 is attached to drain tube 44 of tub 12 and is stabilizedagainst rotation by a pair of wall adjustment screws bearing againstwall 40. Tub 12 is secured directly to wall 40.

Advantageously, support arm 34 is utilized for mounting variouscomponents of the surgical scrub sink 10. As noted, sensor 36 and on/offmechanism 22 are mounted to support arm 34. Support arm 34 is suspendedfrom tub 12 by connection to drain tube 44 leading from drain hole 14.Tube 44 is mounted to and through support arm 34 with the tail piece 46extending downwardly below support arm 34. As illustrated in the variousfigures, the on/off mechanism 22 includes a transformer 48 mounted atany suitable location, such as to wall 40. The wiring for transformer 48is electrically connected to the wiring from on/off mechanism 22. Theon/off mechanism also includes a wire to connect to the wirelessinteractive monitor 102. Transformer 48 may be of any suitable knownconstruction such as a 12 volt transformer.

Sensor cable 30 is housed within the downwardly extending sides of arm34 and is connected to sensor 36. The position of sensor module 36 couldbe adjusted to its intended location with respect to the front edge 16of tub 12. This assures that the module will detect the presence orabsence of the user standing in front of and at or juxtaposed to frontedge 16 of tub 12. Accordingly, it is possible to use a short focussensor having an effective focal distance of about 2-6 inches and stillreliably sense the presence or absence of a surgeon standing at sink 10.The elevation of sensor 36 above the floor would be selected tocorrespond to the elevation of the surgeon's legs, such as in the kneearea. Other locations of the surgeon's legs could also be used as thedetecting target. Thus, sensor module 36 could be elevated above thefloor any suitable distance of, for example, six inches to thirtyinches.

The invention would thus be practiced by suitably positioning sensormodule 36 at the desired location, generally at the front edge 16 of tub12. Sensor module 36 would project a beam which operates to detect thepresence or absence of an object in the range of the beam. Becausesensor module 36 preferably operates with a focus, the presence of anobject would be detected only when the object is in the immediatevicinity of front edge 16 at the elevation of sensor module 36. Thus,under ordinary conditions, no object would be detected. This detectionof the absence of an object would permit the on/off mechanism 22 toremain in its off condition and the wireless interactive monitor 102would remain off. When, however, a surgeon steps to sink 10 in order toperform a scrubbing operation by standing at the front edge 16 of sink10, sensor module 36 would detect the presence of an object, namely thesurgeon's legs and the sensing would be transmitted to on/off mechanism22 and permit the wireless interactive monitor 102 to be activated. Thewireless interactive monitor 102 would remain on as long as the surgeonremained at the front of tub 12. Once the scrubbing operation has beencompleted, the surgeon would step away from tub 12. Sensor 36 would thendetect the absence of the surgeon and corresponding signal would be sentto the on/off mechanism 22. The wireless interactive monitor 102 wouldthen shut off. The monitor 102 could be controlled by the apparatus 404described above for individuals with limited or no manual dexterity. Inthis case, the surgeon cannot use his/her hands because of the need fora sterile environment.

An optional manual override switch is also provided to facilitatecontinued operation of the wireless interactive monitor 102 should therebe an interruption in power to the mechanism 22. This override switch islinked to a backup battery power pack to maintain actuation of theon/off mechanism 22, and resultant operation of the wireless interactivemonitor 102 in case of a power failure.

The invention thus provides a way of automatically controlling thewireless interactive monitor 102 during scrubbing which permits fullmovement of the surgeon's arms and hands during the scrubbing withoutaffecting the operation of the wireless interactive monitor 102. Thewireless interactive monitor 102 shuts off once the video is completedand the surgeon is no longer present at sink 10.

The wireless interactive monitor 102 of the present invention receives avideo image provided by a video-output device 104 of a wirelesscommunications device, and as a result enables a surgeon of the wirelesscommunications device to receive information in the form of video andaudio and to provide feedback to the video-output device 104 in order toinstruct the video-output device 104 which information that the surgeonwould like to see and hear. The feedback would allow the surgeon to takeappropriate action to maintain or adjust the content of the video image.The present invention may be readily implemented in any wirelesscommunication device. The principles of the present invention areapplicable to any wireless communication device, including, but notlimited to, analog and digital cellular telephones, personalcommunications system (PCS) devices, and the like.

The wireless cellular phone 702 as shown in FIG. 7 of the presentinvention receives a video image provided by a video-output device 104of a wireless communications device, and as a result enables a surgeonof the wireless communications device to receive information in the formof video and audio through the display 704 and the speaker 708 and toprovide feedback by the buttons 706 to the video-output device 104 inorder to instruct the video-output device 104 which information that thesurgeon would like to see and hear. The feedback would allow the surgeonto take appropriate action to maintain or adjust the content of thevideo image. The present invention may be readily implemented in anywireless communication device.

The present invention is embodied in a system 100 illustrated in thefunctional block of FIG. 1. The system 100 includes a central processingunit (CPU) 103, which controls operation of the system. A memory 105,which may include both read-only memory (ROM) and random-access memories(RAM), provides instructions and data to the CPU 103. A portion of thememory 105 may also include non-volatile random-access memory. Thedisplay 109 provides a screen for CPU 103.

The system 100, which is typically embodied in a wireless communicationdevice, also includes a housing 107 that contains a transmitter 108 anda receiver 110 to allow transmission and reception of data, such asaudio and video communications and programming data, between the system100 and a remote location, such as the monitor 102 or the like. Thetransmitter 108 and the receiver 110 may be combined into a transceiver112. The transmitter 108 and receiver 110 may be connected to transmitand receive wireless Internet. An antenna 114 is attached to the housing107 and electrically coupled to the transceiver 112. Although FIG. 1illustrates the antenna 114 as extending from the housing 107, somedesigns may include an internal antenna that is contained completelywithin the housing. FIG. 2 illustrates a tower 150 which may be locatedat the hospital or some other convenient location to connect thewireless signal to the video output device 104. The wireless signal maybe a wireless Internet signal.

A user-input device 116 includes a video-input device 118, iscommunicatively linked to the system 100 for operation by the user in aconventional manner. The user-input device 116 provides a convenient waywhich audio, commands, video images, voice data and other data may beentered by the user. Although FIG. 1 illustrates the user-input device116 as including a video-input device 118 to input video for examplefrom the medical companies to be ultimately displayed on the monitor102, a microphone 120, a keypad 122, and a data-input jack 124 forexample to connect to the Internet so that video and other data can beobtained and contained within the housing 107, other user input devicesmay be used, such as the receiver, and the like, and in variouscombinations. In addition, while the video-input device 118 may be acamera, DVD, CD, or tape, video-input devices 118 may be used, includingthe data-input jack 124, the receiver 110, and the like, and in variouscombinations.

Electrical components of the system 100 receive power from a battery134, which is attached to and supported by the housing 107. In anexemplary embodiment, the battery 134 is a rechargeable battery. Inother embodiments, the system 100 may include a connector (not shown)for the connection of an external power source, such as an automobilepower adapter, AC power adapter, or the like.

The various components of the system 100 are coupled together by a bussystem 136 which may include a power bus, control bus, and status signalbus in addition to a data bus. For the sake of clarity, however, thevarious buses are illustrated in FIG. 1 as the bus system 136.

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the system 100 to transmit the videoimage and audio to a remote location, such as the wireless interactivemonitor 102. The video image and audio may be transmitted to a varietyof remote locations, such as another system 100, or the like. For thesake of brevity, the system 100 will be described using a limited numberof examples.

In operation, the sensor 36 senses the presence of the surgeon at thesurgical scrub sink 10 and activates the on/off mechanism 22 to its oncondition. The content that is presented to the user on the monitor 102may be customized. For example a first surgeon may desire to see onlyinformation relating to his specialty such as brain surgery. A secondsurgeon may specialize in plastic surgery and is only interested ininformation that relates to plastic surgery. The CPU 503 could recognizethe earpiece 404 as being dedicated to a particular surgeon or theearpiece 404 could include a keyboard to input a unique identifier.Alternatively, a keypad 408 could be positioned near the monitor 102 toidentify the user. The CPU 503 would direct appropriate video and/oraudio to the monitor 102 based upon the user that is currently using thesystem. This sensor may be individualized for the surgeon so that themedical or surgical specialties of interest to him/her would bepre-programmed. The on/off mechanism 22 activates the wirelessinteractive monitor 102. Alternatively, the monitor 102 may go in andout of the suspended, sleep or hibernate mode. Initially, a first menu140 and a second menu 142 appear on the screen 144 of the wirelessinteractive monitor 102 which may be a screen for a computer monitor ora screen for a television set. The surgeon may start the wirelessinteractive monitor 102 by a voice command using the speech recognitiontechnology 152. The surgeon chooses either the first menu 140 or thesecond menu 142 by either physically activating the screen of thewireless interactive monitor 102 at the appropriate first menu 140 orthe second menu 142 or using speech recognition technology 152 of themonitor 102, the surgeon speaks his choice for the first menu 140 or thesecond menu 142 which is received by the voice-recognition technology152 to activate the first menu 140 choice or the second menu 142 choice.Either the first menu 140 choice or the second menu 142 choice iswirelessly sent to the video-output device 104 as feedback. The feedbackis received by the antenna 114 and transmitted to the receiver 110 whichtransmits the feedback to the CPU 103. The CPU 103 uses the feedback toselect audio and video, only audio or only video from the memory 105.Using audio and video as an example, the CPU 103 directs the audio andvideo to the transmitter 108, and the transmitter 108 transmits theaudio and video to the antenna 114 which in turn is wirelesslytransmitted to the wireless interactive monitor 102 to be received andplayed on the screen of the wireless interactive monitor 102. Thiscontinues until the audio or video transmitted from the transmitter 108ends or the surgeon walks away from the surgical scrub sink 10 at whichpoint the sensor 36 fails to detect the surgeon standing in front of thesurgical scrub sink 10. The sensor 36 directs the on/off mechanism 22 toturn off the wireless interactive monitor 102, and the on/off mechanism22 turns off the wireless interactive monitor 102. A voice command couldbe used to turn off the wireless interactive monitor 102 by utilizingthe speech recognition technology 152.

Alternatively, instead of watching the video over the Internet, thevideos may be downloaded from the Internet or directly input into a userinput 516 and saved in a memory 505. Consequently, when a new video ismade available by the pharmaceutical company, the new video can beinstantly downloaded into the memory 505. The monitor 102 may includeadditional processing circuitry 500 including a central processing unit(CPU) 503, which controls operation of the processing circuitry 500, amemory 505, which may include both read-only memory (ROM) andrandom-access memories (RAM), provides instructions and data to the CPU503 and may provide for the storage of video which has been downloadedfrom the Internet or input through the user input device 516. A portionof the memory 505 may also include non-volatile random-access memory.The monitor 102 provides a screen for CPU 503.

The system 100, which is typically embodied in a wireless communicationdevice, also includes a housing 507 that contains a transmitter 508 anda receiver 510 to allow transmission and reception of data, such asaudio and video communications and programming data, between the videooutput device 104 and the monitor 102 or the like. The transmitter 508and the receiver 510 may be combined into a transceiver 512. Thetransmitter 508 and receiver 510 may be connected to transmit andreceive wireless Internet. An antenna 514 is attached to the housing 507and electrically coupled to the transceiver 512. Although FIG. 5illustrates the antenna 514 as extending from the housing 507, somedesigns may include an internal antenna that is contained completelywithin the housing 507.

A user-input device 516, comprising at least a video-input device 518,is communicatively linked to the CPU 503 for operation by the user in aconventional manner. The user-input device 516 provides a convenient waywhich audio, commands, video images, voice data and other data may beentered by the user of the monitor 102. Although FIG. 5 illustrates theuser-input device 516 as comprising a video-input device 518 to inputvideo for example from the medical companies to be stored in memory 505and ultimately displayed on the monitor 102, a microphone 520, a keypad522, and a data-input jack 524 for example to connect to the Internet sothat video and other data can be obtained and contained within thehousing 507, other user input devices may be used, such as the receiver,and the like, and in various combinations. In addition, while thevideo-input device 518 may be a camera or tape, video-input devices 518may be used, including the data-input jack 524, the receiver 510, andthe like, and in various combinations.

Electrical components of the monitor 102 receive power from a battery534, which is attached to and supported by the housing 507. In anexemplary embodiment, the battery 534 is a rechargeable battery. Inother embodiments, the system 100 may include a connector (not shown)for the connection of an external power source, such as an automobilepower adapter, AC power adapter, or the like.

The various components of the monitor 102 are coupled together by a bussystem 536 which may include a power bus, control bus, and status signalbus in addition to a data bus. For the sake of clarity, however, thevarious buses are illustrated in FIG. 5 as the bus system 536.

In operation, the sensor 36 senses the presence of the surgeon at thesurgical scrub sink 10 and activates the on/off mechanism 22 to its oncondition. The on/off mechanism 22 activates the wireless interactivemonitor 102. Initially, the first menu 140 and the second menu 142appear on the screen 144 of the wireless interactive monitor 102 whichmay be a screen for a computer monitor or a screen for a television set.The surgeon may start the wireless interactive monitor 102 by a voicecommand using the speech recognition technology 152. The surgeon chooseseither the first menu 140 or the second menu 142 by either touching thescreen of the wireless interactive monitor 102 at the appropriate firstmenu 140 or the second menu 142 or using speech recognition technology152 of the monitor 102, the surgeon speaks his choice for the first menu140 or the second menu 142 which is received by the voice-recognitiontechnology 152 to activate the first menu 140 choice or the second menu142 choice. Either the first menu 140 choice or the second menu 142choice is wirelessly sent to the CPU 503 as feedback. The CPU 503directs the memory 505 began playing the video to be displayed on themonitor 102. This will facilitate high quality, full resolution, andcontinuous video.

The monitor 102 could be placed in the waiting room to provide waitingroom educational television. Additionally, the monitor 102 could beportable such that the monitor 102 could travel with the patient as thepatient goes to the lab or x-ray. Alternatively the monitor 102 could beplaced in the operating room OR so that the surgeon can obtainadditional information relating to the medical problem he is currentlyaddressing such as a solution for an unexpected problem with the patientwhich could replace a medical implant/instrument employee.

FIG. 6 illustrates a 3-D system 600 which includes a first video camera602 and a second video camera 604 to be placed under the skin of thepatient to view of the operation. In addition, the cameras provide a 3-Dvideo to the display 606 and in close proximity to display 606 is themonitor 102 which is reduced in size so that the surgeon can view videofrom the medical companies in conjunction with the videos from theactual surgery. Implementation may involve leasing or purchasing the airspace in and about the hospital and/or the operating room suite,specifically those areas of transmission; i.e. above and in front of thescrub sink, in the operating room, the instrument ready rooms,physicians and nurses' lounges. The present invention may be used inconvention in hotel rooms. It can also be used in cars, planes, buses,trains etc. Bill Gates has indicated that advertising and TV as we knowit today will be passé very soon. This invention furthers that notion.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that the description herein of specificembodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particularforms disclosed.

1. An apparatus for viewing information, comprising: a wirelessinteractive monitor including a screen for displaying said informationand adapted to receive said information from a memory; a surgeon scrubsink for allowing a surgeon and/or hospital personnel to sterilize thehands of the surgeon, positioned under said wireless interactivemonitor; said memory having received said information wirelessly.
 2. Anapparatus for viewing information as in claim 1, wherein saidinformation is received from a video-output device.
 3. An apparatus forviewing information as in claim 1, wherein said information isassociated with medical, surgical and pharmaceutical information.
 4. Anapparatus for viewing information as in claim 1, wherein said wirelessinteractive monitor response to voice commands.
 5. An apparatus forviewing information as in claim 1, wherein said wireless interactivemonitor displays a menu to select video.
 6. An apparatus for viewinginformation as in claim 1, wherein said wireless interactive monitordisplays a menu to select audio.
 7. An apparatus for viewing informationas in claim 1, wherein said wireless interactive monitor displays a menuto select video and audio.
 8. An apparatus for viewing information as inclaim 1, wherein said surgeon scrub sink detects the presence or absenceof the user.
 9. An apparatus for viewing information as in claim 8,wherein said surgeon scrub sink activates said wireless interactivemonitor when a user is present.
 10. An apparatus for viewing informationas in claim 8, wherein said surgeon scrub sink shuts off said wirelessinteractive monitor when the user is not present.
 11. An apparatus forviewing information, comprising: a wireless interactive monitorincluding a screen for displaying said information and adapted toreceive said information wirelessly; a surgeon 3-D vision apparatus forallowing a surgeon to view a 3-D image; wherein said 3-D visionapparatus is coupled to said wireless interactive monitor.
 12. Anapparatus for viewing information as in claim 11, wherein saidinformation is received from a video-output device.
 13. An apparatus forviewing information as in claim 11, wherein said information isassociated with pharmaceutical information.
 14. An apparatus for viewinginformation as in claim 11, wherein said wireless interactive monitorresponse to voice commands.
 15. An apparatus for viewing information asin claim 11, wherein said wireless interactive monitor displays a menuto select video.
 16. An apparatus for viewing information as in claim11, wherein said wireless interactive monitor displays a menu to selectaudio.
 17. An apparatus for viewing information as in claim 11, whereinsaid wireless interactive monitor displays a menu to select video andaudio.